It's a nut, Holmes, but what can it mean?

To the untrained eye these are indeed just nibbled nuts in neat rows. But to the nature detective there's more: the top line is the work of Red Squirrels - nuts shattered or split in two. The second line belongs to Dormice - a very neat hole and nearly smooth inner rim. 3rd line down probably comes from Wood Mice - parallel grooves and a scratchy surface. And 4th is the raggedy work of Bank Voles. These Hazel nuts were all collected from hedges on the edge of Newport as part of a set of ecological surveys we're undertaking, but it's just fascinating to think of all this busy rodent activity going on out there. The woods must be a chorus of crunching. Of course none of these species actually lays out their discarded shells in this neat and convenient way, this is characteristic evidence of the work of Sean, a rather larger mammal.